Good Morning Miss Lina
by Oberon
Summary: SlayersHP Can Lina finally make a buck as the new DA teacher? Will Hogwarts even survive the ENEMY OF ALL WHO LIVE?


**Good Morning Professor Inverse **

By Oberon

_Prologue _

The bodies of an elderly couple lay still on a soft Persian rug. Minerva McGonagall came to Flamel Manner personally to persuade Nicolas Flamel to fill the position left by that traitorous Severus Snape as Potions Master. She found the couple still next to a roaring fire.

McGonagall check Nicolas' body, still warm, he had just died recently perhaps even within the hour. At first, Minerva thought the couple had simply expired from old age but she remembered the letter left to her by the former headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore. According the Dumbledore, the Flamels still had almost two years of the elixir of life left. Fowl play, Minerva concluded and supported by the look of surprise eternally frozen on Nicolas' face.

Minerva heard a sound from downstairs; she was in the upper floor in the Flamel's study. A trap, Minerva McGonagall realized. She brush closed the Flamels' eyes in a final show of respect to the famous wizards. Now it was time to go.

Minerva took out her wand in an attempt to disapparate but found an impenetrable wall was blocking her way. Someone had erected a ward to prevent her escape.

"There must be someway to escape from here," they would be here any moment. Minerva checked the window behind the desk. Robbed men in white masks had the manner surrounded. She ducked back quickly and hoped they did not spot her in the window.

She heard footsteps coming up the grand stairway. With seconds left, McGonagall took on her Animagus form of a black cat then scurrying over to the door in a mad dash. Just then, the doors burst open and in came the Death Eaters – servants of the dark wizard Voldemort – in their black robes and white masks. The Death Eaters came in with curses firing but hit nothing. Meanwhile McGonagall silently slipped out the door.

"Where is she?" McGonagall heard a screechy voice from back in the room.

"I don't know, but she was here. I'm sure of it."

"Search the room, she could be hiding. You there, guard the door, make sure nothing gets out."

McGonagall realized she would not be able to get out from the front door. No doubt, the Death Eaters had any obvious way out covered. That just leaves the fluu network, but the only fireplace that had a connection to the fluu network was in the main hall. McGonagall nimbly crept down the grand stairway, hiding in the shadows as much as possible.

McGonagall stayed in the shadows as she spied into the main hall. Just as she thought, the Death Eaters guarded the fireplace as well. She can't run, so now her only choice was to hide. The hair on the back of her neck stood up giving her seconds warning that something was wrong. McGonagall leaped back just in time to avoid the curses that surely would have caught her off guard had she been in human form. McGonagall scurried away all the while avoiding spells. The headmistress of Hogwarts dashed into the main hall while with the Death Eaters hot on her tail.

"It's her! Don't let that cat get away."

The two Death Eaters guarding the fireplace reacted quickly and fired off curses of their own. The Death Eaters forced McGonagall into a dark corner. She returned to her human with her wand at the ready still hidden in the shadows.

"Come out," the Death Eater with the squeaky voice ordered. "The Dark Lord wishes to be generous tonight and offer you way out. All you have to do is resign as headmistress and you may walk out from here free from harm."

Minerva knew it was a lie, most like the Dark Lord wish to take her alive so they can extract from her the Order's secrets. In her dark corner, Minerva prepared a spell. The only thing that needs to happen is for the Death Eaters to get closer.

The squeaky Death Eater became impatient. "Go, flush her out." He ordered his fellow Death Eaters. Their wands at the ready, the Death Eaters crept cautiously closer to Minerva's position.

"LUMOS!" McGonagall put as much magic into that spell as she could at once. The flash of light that came from the tip of her wand brightly illuminated every crevice of the room.

The sudden brilliant light caught the overconfident Death Eaters off guard. There were several screams and wild curses in the air. In the precious moments when the light blinded the Death Eaters, Minerva McGonagall made her escape.

The Death Eaters finally regained their vision.

"Where did she go?" The squeaky voice nervously searched the room. The Dark Lord would be most displeased if he allowed McGonagall to escape.

  
  


_Chapter 2: Flamel's Laboratory _

McGonagall breathed a sigh of relief from behind a grandfather clock. The set of stairs she stood on and hidden behind the clock led to Flamel's laboratory. She had been here once before to witness the philosopher stone's destruction. As far as she knew, herself, Nicolas, his wife, and Dumbledore were the only ones that had knowledge of Flamel's laboratory.

Minerva wiped the sweat off her cheeks with a handkerchief. Her old bones couldn't take this much excite. Just as she was safe for the moment, she heard a noise coming Flamel's laboratory.

Minerva gripped her want firmly and pointed down the stairs. Cautiously she traveled down the steps hoping she was wrong about the noise. She finally reached the bottom of the stairway.

"AH! Where is it?" A young girl's voice screamed in frustration. Minerva had her wand trained on the girl but she had yet to notice. The young girl tossed another peace of Flamel's possession aside and ignored the sound of it breaking on impact.

"Ahumm." Minerva got the girl's attention.

The girl froze up at an awkward position. Slowly she twisted her head around to face the headmistress. "Hehe…" the girl smiled nervously.

"And just what are you doing in here, young Miss?" Still keeping her wand trained on the girl.

"Well, you see… hehe… I was just trying to find this thing that daddy wanted from his lab." The girl answered lamely while rubbing the back of her head.

Minerva glared at the girl. "The Flamels had no daughter your age. It is more likely that you came here to steel the Philosopher Stone. Sorry to disappoint you but the stone had been destroyed years ago."

The girl deflated, her shoulders hunched and hung on her as if they were limp. "Rats…"

Minerva thought the girl wore strange cloths for a witch and although she did not know muggle fashion, McGonagall was sure capes went out of fashion with them a longtime ago. The girl had on red pants with a red and yellow tunic that complemented her orange hair. She did not look like a witch but she was not a muggle ether. She was also young but Minerva would have remembered someone like her attending Hogwarts.

The orange haired girl shrugged. "Oh well, I bet I can get some keep prices for some of the stuff in here," she said then went back to turning Flamel's lab upside down. The girl found a sheaved knife hidden under a potion rack. "Hmmm… this has some weird spell on it. I bet it'll be worth a lot to the right people." She stashed it into her cape.

"Please, have some respect for the dead." McGonagall sculled the young woman. "Put that down, I would not have you take things from here." She remembered that knife was a gift from Dumbledore to Flamel many years go.

The girl waved her off. "What are you talking about? I just heard granny and the old geezer snorting off just a couple of hours ago." She found some amulets; they quickly disappeared into her loot stash.

The girl found a nice set of books on alchemy, too big for her to carry. "Nice, these will be worth their weight in gold." She tossed the books to a nice pile of other things too large for hiding behind her cape.

"Young Miss, I must insist that you stop at once." Minerva warned dangerously, the girl was trying her patience.

"If they are dead then I'm sure they wouldn't miss it," her eyes sparkled as she laid eyes on a pair of jewel-incrusted gloves.

Minerva thought about stunning the girl with a Stupefy spell or transfiguring her into a rat. She banished these thoughts. The stress must be getting to her. "I don't see how you are going to escape with your treasure when there are Death Eaters about."

"Eww… gross… do these guys eat like rotten meat or something?"

"You never heard of Death Eaters?" Minerva asked incredibly. _Is she a muggle?_

"Nope, can't say that I have." The girl gathered all the larger items into a pile then stuffed them into two large bags. She handed one bag full of loot to Minerva who caught it with a grunt. "Here, make yourself useful. Help me carry this out of here and I'll split the loot with you 90 and 10. Ninety for me, I did most of the work after all."

Minerva dropped the precious bag. She refused to participate in this… this… McGonagall glared at the young girl. "I suggest you leave these here, you'll need all your attention to escape from the Death Eaters."

"If you don't want a share of the treasure, then fine, but don't get in my way!" The girl howled back angrily. "The way I see it, I'm just rescuing these treasure from falling into the wrong hands. It's almost a public service!"

"You'll need to be a few years older to make that threat, young lady. If you were one of my students you'll be in detention for an entire year."

Lina shook her fist at Minerva angrily. "Listen you old hag…"

Just then, a loud bang came from the top of the stairs leading to Flamel's laboratory.

"They're in there," Minerva and the girl heard the words eco down the stairway.

"Got'ta go," the girl grabbed both bags faster than McGonagall's eye could see. "DAM BRASS!" The girl shouted. A ball of red light shot out from the girl's outstretched hand. The red orb hit the wall then the wall gave way. The girl fled through the newly created hole in the Flamel manner with both bags of loot that didn't slow her down.

McGonagall gasped, she didn't even see a wand. Did she even have a wand? McGonagall fled through the hole a second after the girl. A second later, the Death Eaters rushed down the flight of stairs after hearing the loud explosion.

"After her!" Minerva heard the chanting of curses even as she took off into the night. She almost tripped in her robs but caught herself. Streaks of purple and red light blew passed her head, to her left and right, even the ground she stood on moments before. At this range, wand magic was notoriously hard to aim but the Death Eaters ran after her, closing the distance.

Minerva disappeared into the forest behind the Flamel manner, dark and dense woodland that cut visibility down to just several meters. McGonagall could feel the Death Eaters still hot on her trail, could hear their voice echoing in the night and the sound of their bodies disturbing the vegetation. Up ahead she saw the orange haired girl panting in exhaustion, the two heavy bags resting at her feet.

Minerva readied her want, she would have to make her stand here, too tired to run. She slowed her quickened heart and stopped her trembling wand hand. McGonagall didn't know how much help she could receive from a thief but she dared not thing of what the Death Eaters would do to such a young lovely girl.

"Defend yourself, girl. They're coming." Minerva stood at the ready. "Where is your wand?" The girl, panting by a tree, just looked at Minerva blankly. "By Merlin, don't tell me you don't have one."

"We have you at last!" The squeaky voice came from behind the bone white mask of a Death Eater. "There is no use running, we have you surrounded."

  
  


_Chapter 2: The Thief's Wraith _

McGonagall fell to her side, every part of body burning with pain. She had lost, just too many Death Eaters for her to take on by herself. The triumphant Death Eater stood gloatingly over her fallen body, a gash over his chest but far better than Minerva's condition. Weakly, the headmistress reached for her discarded wand but the mean-spirited man behind with the mask stepped heavily on her aged hand. She heard the bones crack and let out a whimper, the only thing she could manage.

"Well, I must say, you put up a good fight. I would love to end this right now but the Dark Lord's offer still stands. Resign as headmistress then name the Dark Lord as your replacement and all will be forgiven."

McGonagall glared at the arrogant bastard. "I will not betray the memory of Albus Dumbledore to the likes of you."

The Death Eater chuckled behind his mask. "You may not be afraid to die but what of the girl? So young… so innocent… I dare not think what would happen to her if you incurred the wraith of the Dark Lord."

"You wouldn't!" Minerva struggled beneath the Death Eater's boots uselessly. An innocent girl will suffer because Minerva had led the Death Eaters to her.

"Oh, I would." The squeaky voice Death Eater grinned. "Lads, let's we play with the little girl while the headmistress makes up her mind."

"DON'T… CALL…. ME…. A LITTLE GIRL…" The orange hair girl twitched angrily, her violent nature barely contained.

"We'll call you by whatever name we want." Said some other Death Eater too stupid to feel that death was upon him. "Such as whore, because that's what you are - a whore."

"How dare you! Do you have any idea who you're talking to?" The girl shot back furiously.

"No, should we?" The squeaky voice taunted.

"I'm the beautiful and talented sorceress genius, Lina Inverse!"

"Enough of this, let's teach her some discipline, perhaps then she'll be more inclined to obey her betters." Another Death Eater whipped out his wand. "Incarcerous"

Lina nimble twisted out of the way while the spell hit he tree behind her, wrapping it in heavy chains.

"Pretty fast, little girl but let's try this. Petrificus Totalus" again Lina dodge away but that only made the Death Eater angry. The Death Eater began to fume behind his mask. The girl had made a fool of him in front of the other Death Eaters. He escalated the potency of his curses. He no longer cared to play with her. Yet, Lina's agility allowed her to stay one-step ahead.

"Is that all you got? I seen 6th rate magicians with better magic," Lina taunted.

The Death Eater's mouth twisted into an angry snare. "Take this!" The frenzied Death Eater send a funnel of purple flame didn't get Lina but instead got the bags of loot she liberated from Flamel's manner.

Lina gasped. "Hay, I worked hard to steal that! Unforgivable! FIRE BALL!"

When the smoke cleared, a large part of the forest had disappeared. The explosion from that single spell had lit the night for kilometers around. Of the Death Eaters, nothing remained. Their ash mixed with that of the burned-out trees.

Lina Inverse stood triumphant. "Did you really think I'm going to let you get away after what you called me?" She kicked the burned husk of a Death Eater that had miraculous escaped cremation. Lina's vicious kicks drove his skull into the ground with a loud snap. She kept kicking the last Death Eater long after he stopped moving.

  
  


_Chapter 3: Said the Joker to the Thief _

"So… you want me to be a teacher at your school?" Lina stuffed a sausage into her mouth and ate it whole. She took a huge gulp of beer then stuck her fork into a piece of chicken thigh on McGonagall's plate. "Ah… that's the stuff." The sorceress saw the barmaid passed by. "Keep 'em coming!"

"Miss, Inverse!" Minerva gasped in horror. She almost lost her hand to Lina's maw.

"You're paying for this right?" Lina piled yet another plate atop the stack of finished plates.

McGonagall eyed the sorceress nervously. She had never seen anyone with such bad table manners. "Of-of course, it's the least I can do for saving my life."

"That's good, 'cause I'm still hungry." She had just polished off the newest plat the barmaid got for her. "TEN MORE CHICKEN DINNERS!" Lina declared from standing with foot on the table. Some of the other patrons in the pub had gotten curious about the loud little girl but a glare from the sorceress quickly told them they should mind their own business.

"About that job offer…" Minerva brought up the topic again. The magic Lina controlled made Minerva quiver in fear. Fifteen Death Eaters, seasoned duelists, taken out with one spell…

Lina bit down on another drumstick, ripping off a piece of meat. "'ope, 'ot int'ested." She said with her mouth full.

"Please, Miss Inverse, think of all the good you can do. Not just for the children but for you as well. Do you really wish to be looked down as a thief for the rest of your life?" Minerva sighed. "These are dangerous times, Miss Inverse. The children need all the advantages of your magic if they are to survive."

"It's always dangerous out there. If it's not one Dark Lord out to rule the world then it's another trying to destroy it. Teaching you people more powerful magic just kills more people in the long run."

This was not working.

"I'll pay you." Minerva suddenly blurted out.

"Interesting… but how much are we talking about here. I have large bills to pay."

"Name your price."

Lina thought about it for a second, internally she giggled with delight. _This is a gold mine._ "1,000,000 gold pieces…"

That's not so much, McGonagall thought. Especially for what the sorceress has to teach.

"Per week,"

The Headmistress' jaw dropped. "That's outrageous!"

"Hay, what I have to teach is worth way more than 1million gold per week. I'm being generous here on the account of the free food and board."

True, magic as powerful as those wielded by Lina Inverse would carry a great price. "How about this then, you agree to a much reduced fee, says… 50,000 thousand per month and you can keep anything you want from the school library." An expensive proposition to be sure but not only would Hogwarts get a new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher, they'll also get a new protector. "Think about it. Hogwarts houses the largest collection of arcane knowledge anywhere. Some of these rare tombs are priceless beyond compare. One would not be able to buy some of these books for any amount of money."

"You're saying I can keep anything I want?"

"That's correct, Miss Inverse."

"All right, you got yourself a deal."

  
  


_Chapter 4: Special Treatment _

The end of that summer, McGonagall received permission from the board of governors to hire Lina Inverse for 50,000 galleons per month, officially.

Again, McGonagall agonized over the almost ritualistic retrieval of Harry Potter. To make matters worse, the owl sent to Potter had returned without successful delivery. Everything pointed to that Potter had disappeared shortly after the 6th year with his friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. She only hoped that Potter decided to return to Hogwarts for the 7th year, otherwise she wouldn't be able to protect him.

Speaking of Potter, McGonagall almost forgot to tell Hogwarts newest professor to pay special attention to its most famous student. The headmistress caught up with Lina Inverse outside study hall.

"Professor, may I have a moment?" McGonagall called out.

"Make it quick, I'm just dying to take a bath on a hot day like this. I feel all sticky and gross." The sorceress had refused to wear the traditional robes and pointy hat, instead she insisted on her flamboyant cape and red outfit.

"It concerns one of the students that you'll have in your 7th year class, a boy named Harry Potter."

"Can't remember the name," Lina shrugged. "But he sounds important."

"He is and I want you to pay special attention to him this year. He can be a handful at times but please, try to impart as much of your knowledge to him as possible."

"What's so special about this little twerp?" Lina tried to air out her tunic, the humidity made her very hot and very cranky.

"The Dark Lord is after him and has been since the he was just a babe. The Dark Lord wanted him dead so much that he killed his parents to get to him while he was still in the cradle. So you see, Professor Inverse, Harry needs all the help we can give him."

"This Harry sounds like a total loser to me. Not sure how much he can learn but I doubt it will do him any good. He'll probably get himself killed before able to do anything useful."

"Professor!" McGonagall objected.

"Well, it's true. A kid like that wouldn't even stand a chance against a 5th rate magician like this Dark Lord of yours."

McGonagall sighed. "Albus Dumbledore believed in him. He believed in Harry so much that he traded his life so Harry might live. That's good enough for me." Minerva turned away and stared longingly down the hall. If she tried, she could just make out the ghostly image of the former Headmaster walking these ancient stones. She knew that is just in her head, Dumbledore had passed on without regrets. Minerva was sure the former headmaster would not be returning as a ghost, no matter how much she wanted to talk to him once more. "I think… if you just give Mr. Potter a chance, he might surprise you."

"We'll see. Just don't blame me when he gets killed. You'll going have to pay me a lot more to save his ass." Lina walked off to take that bath she wanted.

McGonagall stayed behind for a few more moments reminiscing about the past. As it turned out, Harry Potter and friends decided not to attend their final year at Hogwarts.

  
  


_Chapter 5: Without Harry _

Neville Longbottom almost didn't return to Hogwarts for his 7th year. His gran had insisted that he take a sojourn to the West Indies but Neville was a Gryffindor and would not back down. He had searched the Hogwarts express up and down for Harry and the others. Neville panicked when he could not find the golden trio on the train. _What if Voldemort got them over the summer?_ Thankfully, Luna Lovegood had just been sitting in the next compartment and she managed to calm the Gryffindor down. This wouldn't be the first time Harry missed the train, Luna had reasoned.

Awhile later, the two met up with Cho Chang, a girl from Ravenclaw and a member of Harry's organization, Dumbledore's Army, in fifth year.

"Do you know who our new Defense against the Dark Arts is going to be this year?" Cho asked the Neville and Luna.

Luna had strange expressions as usual. "According to the Quibbler, she is supposed to be a monster or dark creature of some kind. They say our new teacher could shoot fire from her mouth and even scare off dragons with her voice."

Cho looked at Luna skeptically. "Are you sure that's not a dragon or something? That sounds suspiciously like a dragon to me."

"Well, as long as Snape isn't in any of my classes I'll be happy. I'll take a dragon over Snape any day." Neville didn't really want a dragon for a teacher but that's still better than Snape…

All too soon, the train ride ended, Hagrid packed them all into carriages and sent them off to the castle.

Rumor buzzed about in the Great Hall. Rumors of Harry Potter, some say the Dark Lord had killed Harry over the summer. Others say Harry is in hiding, protected by the ministry. Still, others rumors concerned their newest teacher at the head table, the one looking miserable.

"Is that her?"

"I heard she's a monster or something."

"Well, I think she's hot."

"She's got orange hair."

"She could be a monster you know. I heard she can spit fire from her mouth."

"That's so cool. I remember the Bulgarians doing that."

"You know what I heard?"

"What?"

"If you get too close while she's eating, there's a good chance she'll eat you too."

"No way, she's as thin as a beanpole."

"But she's still hot though."

"If you like scrawny girls…"

"How could a kid like her be a professor? She's barely older than I am and I'm better stacked!"

McGonagall finally put a stop to all the chatter before someone said something everyone might regret. They already got Inverse twitchy and McGonagall how much more the short-tempered sorceress could take before she decides to level the castle. McGonagall sighed; Hogwarts had fewer students this year than any other in the school's history. The Slytherian table was completely empty. Her eyes finally settled on the Gryffindor table. With a few notable exceptions, most of the Gryffindors had been true to their house spirit.

It seemed certain rumors about Harry Potter held a grain of truth. Without Potter, the light stood no chance for Dumbledore had decided to entrust only Harry with Voldemort's secrets. Minerva spied the orange hair sorceress, looking miserable and hungry. Perhaps they still had one last hope…

"I'm sooo hungry…"

  
  


_Chapter 6: Lina's First Class _

Lina slapped a piece of chalk into her desk after scribbling her name on the chalkboard.

"All right class. My name is Lina Inverse and I'll be your Defense Against the Dark Arts this year. You may call me Miss Lina, Professor Inverse, The Beautify Sorceress Lina Inverse and my personal favorite Sorceress Genius Lina Inverse, The Beautiful."

A Hufflepuff raised his hand timidly. "Eh… Professor, what's this?" He held up a piece of parchment, in fact table had three sheet of parchment, one in front of every student.

"Nothing important, just what they call a consent form or waiver of liability if you want to get technical." She waved off the young man lamely. "You'll need to sign your name in blood before I can teach you anything."

That got a few odd stares from the Hufflepuffs and the Gryffindors.

"See, I told you. She's a dark creature," said someone from the Hufflepuff's side.

Lina twitched. "Sign it or not, I don't really care but your headmistress is paying me a ton of money to teach you halfwits so I'll take advantage of that if I were you." Lina leaned back into her chair and rested her legs on her desk. "You got five minutes before I'm kicking out anyone that hasn't signed."

The students debated among themselves rather loudly. After 3 minutes, the consensus reached by many believed that by signing the waiver, they were in fact selling their souls to Professor Inverse. A minority believed that Lina Inverse was in fact a dark creature working for the Dark Lord and the waiver forfeited their soul to the Dark Lord.

By the end of the 5 minutes set by Lina, only a 10th of the class stayed behind. Neville Longbottom, some Gryffindors and a few of the Hufflepuffs decided to brave Lina's temper.

"What? You're still here?" Lina grumbled. "Fine, let's get started. Ok, does anyone here know what Shamanistic magic is?" Lina sighed. "It seems we will have to go over some theories first. You see, Shamanism draws the power of its spells from the Astral Plane…"

After an hour of lecture and constant skepticism, Lina had enough. "You want proof? Here it is! Fire Ball!"

  
  


_Chapter 7: Finally, at Least Someone Gets It! _

The weather cooled then winter rolled around.

"All right class; let's pick up where we left off last week." Lina had taught exactly one spell since the start of the term. No one in all her classes had gotten the spell so far and without this basic knowledge, no one can learn anything more advance.

"Professor, can you show us the spell one more time?"

"Fine," Lina sighed. "_Light of life, brighter than flame, Let thy power gather in my hand._" An orb of pure light rose from the palm of Lina's hands. The orb floated high into the air and drowned out the sunlight with its radiance.

A second orb appeared in the room, this time it came from someone sitting on the Gryffindor's side.

"Hay look everyone, Longbottom managed the spell."

Neville turned red with embarrassment, for the first time he received too much attention of the envious kind.

"About time someone got it," Lina congratulated herself. "Good job there Longbottom but don't get too cocky, I got that spell the first time I tried it."

  
  
p>_Chapter 8: Harry's Return _

"Headmistress, you must do something about Professor Inverse." Madam Pince's vulture-like form loomed over McGonagall. Her face, flushed with anger, ready to lash out at the injustice if McGonagall failed to rectify the situation.

McGonagall fidgeted nervously behind her disk. "Irma, could you please calm down. Explain to me what happened?"

Pince slapped McGonagall's desk. "It's that Lina Inverse, she's a shameless thief. I noticed books disappearing from the library since the beginning of term but I didn't know who the culprit was until last night. That-that Inverse girl nicked a one-of-the-kind tomb right in front of me."

"Perhaps Professor Inverse simply wished to checkout the volume for further study?" McGonagall suggested.

"I thought so at first but then I tried a locator spell on that particular volume, I put tracking spells on all the valuable books, and couldn't find it. The locator spell would have picked up the book if it were still in the castle. No, headmistress, Inverse is definitely hiding these books somewhere and plans to make them her own."

McGonagall stood up, her lanky height a match for Irma Pince's vulture-like stature. "Madam Pince, Professor Inverse is going us a great service just by being here. As such, we should allow her some latitude."

Pince gasped and backed away from McGonagall. "Headmistress, are you saying I should forget about this? I-I can't accept that."

"Irma, listen to me…"

McGonagall suddenly faced the fireplace as it erupted in a column of flame. The fire reseeded a second later to reveal…

"Harry Potter!" McGonagall nearly fell over.

Madam Pince nearly had a heart attack. "My Merlin, it is Harry Potter."

The fireplace spewed green flame twice more. The first time Ron Weasley came out then the third time, the fire left behind Hermione Granger.

"Hello, Professor…" Harry smiled boyishly.

McGonagall caught Harry in a fierce hug. "Potter, we thought you were dead." The headmistress let go of Potter, a bit embarrassed with her sudden lost of control. She straighten her robe. "And you too Mister Weasley and Miss Granger." A question suddenly occurred to McGonagall. "Potter, how did you get in here?"

"That's not import right now Professor, we have news of an attack on Hogwarts." Harry's anxiousness had everyone's attention.

"Oh my…" McGonagall gasped. "Are you sure about this, Potter?"

"Positive, Professor." All three Gryffindors had an air of seriousness. Ron especially, he looked very convincing with the scars across his face. Hermione on the other hand, looked like she had gotten into a fistfight with some rough people.

"Just one moment," McGonagall stopped Harry before he could tell her everything. "Irma, I'm going to have to ask that you return to your duties in the library."

"Of course headmistress,"

"Oh, and Irma, I'm going have to ask you to keep this to yourself for now. We don't want to panic the students." McGonagall somehow opened the door to her office without a visible command.

"I understand, headmistress."

When Madam Pince had taken off, McGonagall turned back to the three Gryffindors still in the room. "Tell me everything you know."

"We spend the last year tracking down Voldemort…"

McGonagall had summoned the Order while Harry and his friend talked. In the short time Harry had been there, no less than half the Order had fluu'ed in from wherever they had been.

"We captured Peter Petigrew and learned that Voldemort is planning an attack on Hogwarts with the full force of his supporters." Hermione no longer had trouble speaking the Dark Lord's name. The experience over the last year had hardened her spirit.

"Pettigrew, you have Pettigrew? Where is he?" Remus Lupin literal shook with anger.

Tonks placed a hand over his trembling shoulders. The gesture calmed the former DA professor.

Harry grew solemn. "Pettigrew is dead. He died saving us from Draco, said it was to repay his debt to dad."

"Harry," Hermione chimed in softly. "You know he was just trying to save himself, right?"

"And where is Mr. Malfoy?" The venom in McGonagall's voice made it clear she still hasn't forgiven Draco for his role in Dumbledore's death.

"We don't know. He ran off with Lucius after killing Snape and Pettigrew."

Remus finally recovered, he had a drop of tear still in his eye. "Harry, do you know when Voldemort will be attacking?"

"Not sure exactly," Harry answered.

"The rat just said it was going to be soon." Ron added.

"I think Voldemort didn't trust Pettigrew near the end."

  
  


_Chapter 9: Never Get Between Lina and Food _

All the Hogwarts professors had learned to give Lina Inverse a wide berth when they are at the head table, Flitwick especially after the infamous turkey incident.

The Great Hall suddenly cooled as an ethereal wind swept across the table isles. Both teacher and student shivered as all conversation halted. Lina lost her appetite.

The temperature continued to drop with every second until the people in the great hall could see their own breath as a thick fog. The students could see the fear in their friends and it is then, at the height of apprehension, the great wooden doors swung open with the force of the apocalypse.

Dark shrouded creatures flooded into the great hall, their faces covered in the shadows of hoods and body in shredded black rags. The students screamed.

"Dementors!" The older students recognized them from DA class while others had seen them from a distance when these dark creatures came for Sirus Black. Others couldn't even muster the courage to scream. Then the Dementors came upon the weak, face-to-face, and administered "the kiss".

The ones strong enough to resist the Dementor's presence fled from the dark creatures.

The students ran for the protection of their teachers who had already begun to cast the Patronus charm, the only known spell able to repel Dementors. The Patronus called forth by Flictwick and Pomfrey attacked the Dementors but the dark creatures' numbers grew with every second as they flood into the great hall in an unending tide. The Dementors circled the head table, relentlessly probing the defense of the two Patronus protecting staff and students.

"Professor Inverse, please do something." Neville pleaded then summoned a Patronus of his own.

Meanwhile, Lina was having visions of slugs and her older sister.

The two professors and few students kept the Dementors away for all of 30 seconds before one of the dark creatures finally broke through while its brothers bogged down the Patronuses. The single Dementor went straight for Lina thinking she was the weakest link. Big mistake, as the Dementor got closer, Lina's stomach nausea grew until she finally threw up right in the Dementor's face.

Lina had enough, pissed off to the point to where she could rip things apart with her own hands. "No one gets between me and good food, especially not some stupid face sucking ghosts!"

The Dark Lord strolled into Hogwarts through the school's main gates. Voldemort's loyal servants flanked him while several giants cleared the twisted and mangled iron gates from Voldemort's path. The Dark Lord smiled, "At last, our journey has reached its end."

"RA TILT!"

All the wizards heard a loud feminine shout from somewhere in the distance. Seconds later, a great light erupted from the very walls of Hogwarts. The great light spread like a dome, overtaking the Dementors circling the castle. The wizards and giants had to cover their eyes in that brief moment when Hogwarts shined like a blue sun. The light died and all the Dementors fell out of the sky, their bodies turned to ash before they hit the ground.

"My… my Lord, the Dementors." A Death Eater trembled at the sight when a stray Dementor fell right in from of him. The dark creature burst into a puff of dark smoke on impact, spooking the nervous Death Eater even more.

"So Hogwarts is not defenseless after all," Voldemort glared at the nervous Death Eater then cursed the trembling man with a Cruciatus. "We go forward," the Dark Lord left the coward withering on the grounds while he marched his army forward.

  
  


_Chapter 10: After the Massacre, cue the Villain! _

McGonagall and the Order gasped when they found the bodies of students littering the great hall. "What's going on here?" McGonagall demanded but no one but them remained alive under the enchanted roof. The last of the Dementors disintegrated right before their eyes.

"Are… are those Dementors?" Harry's eyes settled on the dead creature just as it disappeared into a puff of black smoke. His heart fell when he realized just what happened, a Dementor attack. He frantically tried to find his friends in Gryffindor but the sight of all the bodies made him sick.

Hermione placed a gentle hand on Harry's shoulder. "That's… that's not possible, Harry. You can drive away Dementors with the Petronus Charm, of course, but there is nothing that can kill a Dementor." Hermione turned away, revolted by Colin Creevey's soulless eyes staring back at her.

Harry felt his scare burn with fire. HE is near.

"Well, well, well. I'm glad to see that you made it, Potter." A high chilling voice echoed across the great hall.

Harry knew that voice, it haunted his dreams and '_kill the spare' _still horrified him. "Voldemort…"

  
  


_Chapter 11: Lina's Departure _

"All right kids, stay here where you should be safe for now." Lina shoved Neville into the Room of Requirements, who promptly tripped over his rob and fell into Luna Lovegood.

"You're not saying with us, aren't you Professor?" Luna stated while she gave Neville a hand.

"I got a few things to take care of first," Lina stated cryptically.

"You going to help defend the castle aren't you?" Neville stood up tall, trying for the first time to be the column that supported the whole rather than the one lean on someone.

"Maybe," Lina said noncommittally.

"I'm coming with you," Naville's sentiments were quickly mirror by few other students, all of whom had at one time been a member of Dumbledore's Army.

Cho Chang handed an unconscious Flitwick to a fellow Ravenclaw then stepped forward. "I think I speak for most of us when we say, we want to help too." Cho Chang had stayed in Lina's class long enough to realize they stood a better chance fighting the Death Eaters than hiding.

Lina glared at the group, if they came along, the students would just slow her down. "Hold it guys, I never said I was going to fight them."

Cho Chang suddenly felt small under Lina's glare while her confidence in herself and Lina evaporated. "But Professor…"

"I said I had something to do, I never said anything about fighting. Now stay here and be quiet." Lina slammed the door on them. "Kids…" she muttered then turned around and ran off.

"Do you think we should follow her?" Neville opened the door in time to see Lina's backside disappear down the hall.

Luna squeezed passed Neville and Cho Chang; the two were blocking the way out of the Room of Requirements. "I don't think she is going to fight," but no one ever listened to 'Crazy' Luna so naturally everyone assumed that Lina had gone off to fight Voldemort.

"We should follow her," Cho Chang turned to the others, confident in her abilities once more.

"She's mean and… and cruel… and scary. Sometimes she's even downright abusive but I think she'll need our help. Let's go," Neville ran after Lina. When Cho Chang and others former members of Dumbledore's Army saw this, they too took off after the orange haired sorceress.

Meanwhile, Luna Lovegood stared blankly at the retreating form of her friends. She decided to tag along.

  
  


_Chapter 12: By Merlin, It's a Death Eater Popsicle! _

Neville Longbottom nearly tripped on the frozen limbs of a fallen Death Eater - Professor Inverse's handy work no doubt. He freaked when he felt someone behind him, someone who caught him before he toppled over.

"Are you all right, Neville?" Ginny Weasley's red hair gave her away.

"Scared me…" Neville straightened himself, careful to keep distance from the stiff corpse, which had frosted over and broke at the shin where Neville had tripped on it.

"Is… is he dead?" Cho Chang nervously eyed the Death Eater, the mask under the ice hid his identify.

Neville shivered slightly. "I…I think so," this was no _Glacius_ or _Patrificus Totalus_.

"Scary…" Ginny had never seen a dead before though she had faced death twice in the few years. Still, it did not prepare her for the reality of the situation. Her normal tough Weasley exterior cracked just a little.

Neville managed to pull his thoughts away from the dead Death Eater. "Come on, Professor Inverse went down this hall." He ran off, taking care to avoid the body.

The students finally caught up with Lina outside her room.

"Professor, what are you doing?" Neville saw through the crack in her door and peaked inside.

"What are you guys going here?" Lina, annoyed at her students, glared daggers into them and made Neville back paddle a few steps.

"We thought you went off to fight Death Eaters," Ginny answered.

"We came to help," Cho Chang added while she looked around Lina's room. Piles of gold, precious artifacts and moldy books lined the walls and shelves.

Lina handed Cho a large none descript bag. "Here, take this back to the Room of Requirements."

Cho dropped the bag a second later after she almost tore a muscle from the weight. "Professor, why are we moving all these junk?"

"Junk?" Lina bellowed with outrage. "I had to go through three dragons, five golems and a booby-trapped door to steal that treasure from the Gryffindor vault."

Every stared at Lina with an expression of astonishment, their mouths hung open while nonsensical words tried to escape.

"Come on guys, you came to help didn't you?" Lina handed out a second loot bag, this time to a stunned Neville.

"We…we came to help you fight Death…Death Eaters." The sudden revelation of Lina's true nature easily pushed Neville into a relapse. He stuttered while his confidence went up in smoke like his image of Professor Inverse as the righteous heroine of justice. The Gryffindor could not stand to look into Lina's eye after what he had just learned. "Not-not steal from the Founders."

Lina pulled at her hair in frustration. "Look kid," she grabbed Neville by the collar of his rob. "I didn't ASK you to come along. But now that you are here, you'll have to pull your weight." She shoved the poor Gryffindor into another into her desk. The force of Neville knocked a crystal ball off from its stand on Lina's desk.

A bright blue light came forth from the crystal ball while it rolled across Lina's desk. All the students had stopped arguing with Lina at the sudden appearance of the light and had their attention focused on the crystal ball.

"Blimey… is that Harry?"

  
  


_Chapter 13: The Gambling Ring _

The Death Eaters had made quick work of the Order. With a nearly 5 to 1 advantage, McGonagall and the Order had stood no chance. Now, secured by chains, the adults could do nothing but watch Harry and his two friends face down the Dark Lord himself surround by a circle of Voldemort's most loyal followers.

"Ah, once again, we find ourselves back where it all began." The evil snake-faced wizard gestured benevolently as he spoke. This had been the exact situation when Harry faced off against Voldemort in the Riddle graveyard.

Harry held back the pain in his burning scare. "We are not afraid of you, Voldemort." He deliberately spoke the Dark Lord's name, not his real name but the name Tom Riddle assumed.

"Is that all you have to say Potter?" The snake-man smiled, exposing his inhuman dentures. "No 'Hello'? I'm hurt. What your parents would say about your lack of manners, I wonder." The Dark Lord chuckled while his loyal servants laughed loudly at the lame joke. "Oh, that's right. I killed your parents."

"Voldemort, I challenge you to a duel!" Despite his fears, despite his burning scare, and regardless of the stakes, Harry knew what he had to do. He knew he could not win… but maybe… just maybe…

The Dark Lord's servants laughed at Harry's audacity but a glance and a hand from Voldemort quickly silenced them.

"I already proved which one of us is the better wizard, Harry. However, you could be entertaining until Minister Scrimgeuor returns with his resignation." With a wave of his wand, Voldemort changed the great hall's enchanted roof. Calm skies became a raging storm. "Now, let's make this interesting." The rumble of lightning overhead illuminated the Dark Lord's evil grin.

"Harry…" Hermione placed a reassuring hand on Harry's shoulder then readied herself with her wand at the ready.

"We got your back, mate." Ron stood behind the boy-who-lived. He didn't care that Harry stood no real chance. All Ron Weasley cared about was his friends.

"Very touching," Voldemort barely kept himself from bursting into hysterical laughter. _Friendship and love_, how ridiculous the Dark Lord thought. "Oh, no Harry, you'll be fighting for much more than just your own life. Should you lose not only will you forfeit your own life, you will also condemn two others that you know to the same fate." The Dark Lord's maniacal laughter echoed the rumbling of thunder. "And just because I'm so generous, I'll let you choose who is going to die with you."

Harry felt his knees weaken and nearly made falling into Ron. _Damn you Voldemort, you just had to drag more people into this. _

"Hurry up Harry, or else I'll have to choose for you." The Dark Lord grinned madly. "Perhaps Headmistress McGonagall would led you gamble with her life if you asked nicely."

"You leave her out of this!" Hermione stuck her wand at the Dark Lord with a furious expression of pure rage.

"Then are you volunteering for that honor, Miss Granger?"

Harry held her back. "Hermione… no, I can't let you do this."

"No, Harry. I have to do this, don't you see?" The Gryffindor girl pleaded with her eyes.

"Hermione is right Harry," Ron stepped from Harry's shadows to face Voldemort. "If you have to choose two people, then it has to be us."

"Ron, not you too!" Harry, almost reduced to tears at this point, had never expected he had gamble with his friends' life this way. He knew all along that he would put them in danger but never like this.

"So it is decided then," Voldemort's high voice boomed over the three Gyffindors. "We will settle this once and for all; the winner decides the fate of your two friends."

  
  


_Chapter 14: Ginny's Not so Heartfelt Plea _

"Professor Inverse, please help Harry." Ginny grabbed Lina's hand fiercely, ready to let lose the tears as she could barely hold them back. "I'm begging you, please save him."

Lina pulled her hand away but the Gryffindor girl went to her knees and wrapped her arms around Lina's leg.

"I'll do anything. I'll give you anything. Just don't let my Harry die. You're the only that can save him now."

Lina tried to pull her leg free with both hands but Ginny would not let go. "Let go," Lina demanded but Ginny did not listen.

Everyone but Luna Lovegood begged Lina to do something, anything to save Harry Potter.

'Crazy' Luna finally spoke up. "If you defeat Voldemort, you'll be the hero of Wizarding World. You can ask for anything and people will be more than happy to fulfill your desires."

Lina blinked. "Hmm… be a hero?" She thought about it for a moment. "I'm going to need some guarantees."

"What do you mean?" Ginny looked up.

"I know," Lina said cryptically then took the crystal ball from her desk. "An astral projection spell."

Lina frightened Rufus Scrimgeour with the sudden appearance of her Ghostly image in his secured office.

"Who are you? How did you get in here?" The Minister of Magic demanded. Beside him were three aurors who had pulled out their wants at the ghostly Lina.

Lina winked at the flustered Scrimgeour. "Lina Inverse here, beautiful sorceress genius and professor at Hogwarts, perhaps you heard of me?"

"You're at Hogwarts right now?" Scrimgeour quickly motioned for the aurors to put away their wants when he remembered Lina's face. "Can you confirm the Dark Lord has taken the school hostage?" His face betrayed his anxiousness.

"Sure can," said Lina cheerfully. "But that's not why I'm here."

"Why are you here? And how exactly are you doing this, my office is protected by the most powerful wards in all England."

"The how isn't important. As for the why, I came here to offer you a deal."

"What kind of a deal are we talking about here Miss Inverse? And please be quick, we have a crisis on our hands in case you haven't notice." Rufus's annoyance couldn't hide under the vale of British politeness. He had much bigger fish to fry this night.

"Voldemort, I can get rid of him for you." Lina grinned like the Cheshire when she saw the look of disbelieve in Rufus' face. "For a price."

The minister and three bodyguards bellowed when they heard Lina's offer, which only seemed to piss the sorceress off.

"And how much do you want for doing this service?" Rufus managed to say.

"300 million gold"

Rufus couldn't help but slap his desk in uncontrollable hysterical laughter. "All right, if you can kill the Dark Lord then the 300 million is yours." He said sarcastically.

The sorceress jumped up and down with excitement. "ALL RIGHT! One fried snake, coming up. You just make sure you have my money ready."

After Lina disappeared, Scrimgeuor calmed down. "Let's get back to business. How long before the hit-wizard battalion is assembled?"

  
  


_Chapter 15: Enter, a Heroine's Grand Entrance! _

Harry rolled across the ground at the edge of consciousness. The evil wizard Vodemort's voice taunted him, and then with a grim realization, Harry understood that he has not improved at all in the last two years. Harry stopped struggling, his limbs weighted down by heavy chains.

"Incendio," just like that, Harry's precious wand burst into flames. "I see that you finally accepted defeat, Harry." The evil wizard continued to taunt Harry.

"I'm sorry, Ron, Hermione. I let everyone down." He found his friends staring back at him. Their screams of pain tortured him even more than his defeat.

"Don't…don't give up, Harry." Hermione managed to whisper despite the pain of Voldemort's curse.

"And now, you will watch your friends slowly die because of your failure." Voldemort stood triumphantly over the defeat Harry Potter, his servants cheering him.

The Death Eaters' laughter came to a sudden and abrupt end when a section of the great hall's ceiling came down. The dark cloud illusion disappeared, the magical enchantment on the ceiling broken by the gapping hole rained down debris and sparks of mystical energies. Finally, everyone saw the ceiling of the Great Hall plainly.

"Hold it right there," a girl's voice echoed through the hole. Lina Inverse floated through the hole she created, her cape fluttering behind her and awing everyone present. "Aren't you forgetting about me?" Lina gracefully landing on the rubble, she had everyone's attention with her casual destruction of Hogwart's property.

McGonagall recovered from the shock the quickest. "Professor Inverse, Mr. Weasley and Ms. Granger have been placed under a curse. They do not have much time. You must defeat the Dark Lord quickly."

Lina winked. "Don't worry. This will be quick."

"Kneel, wench, show your respect to the Dark Lord." A brave Death Eater, but not too bright, turned his wand on Lina.

McGonagall winced and silently said her good-bye and good riddance to the young Mr. Malfoy.

Lina Inverse rolled her eye. "Fire ball," she casually flipped her hand at Draco. When the smoke cleared, a charred skeleton took Draco Malfoy's place. Still standing for the moment, the skeleton nonetheless collapsed a second later from its own weight.

A second Death Eater rushed to Draco's side and held the burnt skull in despair and sorrow. Lucius Malfoy roared in agony for the lost of his only son. "You'll pay for this!" he declared to Lina. The human silt smeared his pristine black robe but he didn't care. With all the rage and hatred mustered into his soul, Lucius prepared to Crucio the witch, torture her until she is nothing more than a dribbling vegetable.

Voldemort would not have any of it and stopped grieving father. "Now, now, Lucius, we must show some respect to our guest especially if she is the great Lina Inverse I heard so much about."

"But, my Lord, what about my son…" Lucius protested. The elder Malfoy would have disobeyed the Dark Lord if he stood in Lucius' way. His hand trembled and shook violently with furry while his face had the purest expression of rage under his bone white mask.

"Silence!" Voldemort spat angrily at Malfoy's insolence. However, the Dark Lord put on a friendlier face for Lina. "Now, Miss Inverse, if you'll be so kind as to step aside, I still have a duel with Mr. Potter here."

"No way, you flat noised creep." Lina jumped down from her pedestal of rubble. "You crossed a line when you sent in monsters to feed on the souls of little children. For justice and the 300million gold reward, I am taking you down!"

Voldemort did not appear to take offence from Lina calling him a 'flat noised creep'. The Dark Lord continued to smile malevolently. "Gold, is that all you care about?" He knew perfectly well the way to this girl's heart. "Join me and you can have all the gold your heart desires. What do you say? I'll make you the richest woman in the world, all you have to do is swear faulty to me."

"No thanks, I don't work for creeps like you. Now, you have two choices. One, you can watch your goons get humiliate. Or two, they can watch me kick your ass."

Voldemort's anger erupted with the force of Mt. Saint Helen. "I see there is no reasoning with you." The Dark Lord turned his back on Lina dismissively. "Malfoy, you may do with her as you please."

Lucius grinned evilly, already he thought of all the ways he could take his revenge on the sorceress. "With pleasure my Lord." He bowed deeply and reverence of the Dark wizard. With a sneer on his face, Malfoy fired off an unforgivable curse at Lina. "This is for my son!"

"Fire Ball!" Lina's spell easily disrupted Lucius' casting of the Cruciatus but the elder Malfoy knew Lina would favor a fire attack.

Malfoy laughed through Lina's FIRE BALL spell. Through the flames, he taunted the sorceress. "Is that all you got? How pitiful…"

The flames died, giving Lucius a view of his opponent. He paused when he saw the smirk on Lina's face. In the sorceress' hand held a great spear of ice.

"FREEZE ARROW!" Lina hurled the great spear of ice at Malfoy. The spear broke into many smaller arrows in midflight.

Nowhere to run, Malfoy could only put up a pitiful shield against the incoming ice. The first ice spear solidified his shield into a sheet of ice. The second smashed the shield apart. The third and all the shards that followed impelled Lucius unhindered. The last thought of Lucius Malfoy as his brain froze became his last lament. _Where did it all go wrong?_  
  
  


_Chapter 16: Fight, the Dark Lord's Final Stand! _

"To think, I once considered him my strongest servant." Indeed, the Dark Lord became quite impressed with Lina's work. However, just because he admired Lina's callous disregard for human life, didn't mean the Dark Lord would overlook her earlier insults.

Voldemort spared the frozen form Lucius Malfoy one last look. Forever frozen in a state of denial and horror, his expression of disbelief plainly visible under the ice, truly the work of a master, he had to admit. _Good-bye, Lucius…_

"Now, do I have to go through all your minions one at a time or do you want to come at me all at once?" Lina smirked cockily; she could just imagine all the things she could do with 300million gold. She will get her own castle, servants…

"Get her," at Voldemort's order, the Death Eaters rearranged themselves from a circle around Harry to a wall between Lina and their Lord.

"Let me show you how this is done. BALUS ROD!" A ribbon of pure light extended from Lina's hand. With an evil smirk on her face, the sorceress swung the ribbon of light like a whip.

On the first crack of the whip, she smacked the wands from the Death Eaters' hands. On the second swing, Lina whipped them all across their cheeks leaving behind a scar and mystical energies that ate at the flesh. "Bwuahahahahahaha!" The sorceress laughed evilly while she swung her whip wildly. "Yay! Yay! Yay!" She whipped the Death Eaters repeatedly until they knelt before her barely erect and Lina still did not relent. Across the face, across the chest, arms, legs and everywhere else the Death Eaters screamed in rhythm with Lina's maniacal laughter. "Who is your Queen! Who is your Queen!" Lina demanded, an expresses of unadulterated evil in her fury red eyes. "And now, for the finisher, DIGGER BOLT!"

Lina unleashed a torrent of electricity on the Death Eaters. Defenseless, the men in masks could do nothing but scream their last scream as their insides boiled.

Voldemort, awed by Lina's violence, reacted a second too slow to stop Lina from seizing Harry from right under his nose. The sorceress set Potter aside somewhere out of the way.

"Let's finish this," Lina readied herself for the final push.

Voldemort stood confidently among the bodies of his follows. Lestrange, Nox and Amycus all his most loyal of follows now all dead. "Yes," The Dark Lord agreed. Voldemort realized Harry still lived and because of the prophecy, the boy would be a wild card. Voldemort suddenly smirked. The boy will be his ace in the hole. With his wand, Voldemort surprised Lina by casting a spell on Harry instead.

Across the room, Lina acted out of instinct. Disregarding her own safety, the Sorceress got between Voldemort's curse and Potter who was defenseless.

The Cruciatus rippled cross every fiber of Lina's being causing her to scream. The Dark Lord's cruel delight closed in while Lina twisted and howled.

"Do you now see which of us the better wizard?" Voldemort taunted. He had aimed the Cruciatus at Harry knowing that Inverse would try to safe the boy. The Dark Lord knew that on an instinctive level, the sorceress still had a core of goodness. This goodness became something the Dark Lord could exploit. "And now… Impossible!"

Lina fought the pain and despite the agony, she willed herself to stand.

"You think you're so powerful? I'll show you real power!"

Impossible, how could she fight through the Cruciatus. Not even Potter could overcome the Cruciatus' effects. "How are you able stand?"

Then Lina began to chant. "_Darkness beyond the twilight, Redder than the blood that flows..."_ An ethereal wind swirled around Lina. Power gathered in her hand.

What is this power? A terrible power that made the very Earth trembled. For the first time in a long while, the Dark Lord felt his very soul quiver in fear.

_"Buried in the flow of time, in thy great name I pledge myself to darkness. Let all those fools that stand before us be destroyed by the power that you and I possess!" _

The Dark Lord knew that if he did not do something now he would not have the chance. "Avada Kedavra!"

_"DRAGON SLAVE!_"

The two spells met in the space between Lina and Voldemort. A bolt of green verses an angry ray of red furry destruction. The killing curse fought to overpower the Dragon Slave, but next to the power of Sabringido and Lina Inverse, Voldemort's power is but a speck of the dust. The Dragon Slave smashed the Avada Kedavra into tiny sparks that rained down.

"No-no, this can't be! Potter is supposed to be one!" The roar of the Dragon Slave drowned out Voldemort's last screams. Darkness overcame him as a mystical explosion of nuclear proportions consumed every nerve of Voldemort's body.

  
  


_Eulogy _

Harry, Ron, Hermione and McGonagall knelt before the crater that used to be Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. All the memories, a lifetime worth of dedication, all wiped out in an instant. For Harry Potter, the lost of Hogwarts was especially painful. Hogwarts had been the first place Harry called home. It is at Hogwarts that Harry met the first people that he would call family. Now, Hogwarts is gone and Harry's mind just shut down.

"What's going on here? What happened to You-know-who?" Scrimgeuor finally arrived with his battalion of hit-wizards. When he saw the Hogwarts crater, the Minister could do nothing but kneel at his former school. For over a thousand years, Hogwarts had been the symbol of Wizards in England. Now it is no more and in Scrimgeuor's confused state, he despaired for it seemed like Voldemort has won.

"Good timing, Rufus. I took care of Voldemort for you. I hope you have my money ready." Lina stood victoriously, atop a fallen stone pillar, her cocky smile totally contrary to grim mood of all the wizards.

Scrimgeuor's jaw dropped at the appearance of Lina Inverse in the flesh. "You? You're still alive?"

"Well, yes, who else but the beautiful sorceress genius Lina Inverse could kill the evil wizard Voldemort?"

Impossible, Scrimgeuor refused to consider even the possibility. "No…no… that's not possible. How-how could a little girl take out the most powerful Dark Lord in the last hundred years!" No way could she do it when no amount of aurors and hit-wizards of the Ministry could stop the Dark Lord.

"Hay, watch it!" Lina warned dangerously. "I'm not some little kid. I'm going to say this nicely one more time. Where is my 300million reward?"

"This… this has to be a trick! The Dark Lord can't be killed so easily."

Harry had finally regained his senses. "It's true. I saw it with my own eyes." His scare hard disappeared, the connection between boy wizard and Dark Lord broken. Voldemort is gone for good. At long last, the nightmare is over. Harry wanted to rejoice but somehow he felt it wouldn't be appropriate. "Voldemort is gone…"

Hermione held onto the stunned Ron Weasley. She saw everything that had gone on and the spell that had done it all. That one spell defied everything Hermione knew about logic. It bogged her mind but still she managed to confirm Harry story. "That's right, we were there too." She told Minister Scrimgeuor.

"I hate to admit it…" McGonagall began. "Professor Inverse had indeed defeated and killed Voldemort." She had failed Dumbledore for his only wish had been to preserve the school. She could hold herself together no longer. "BUT LOOK AT WHAT SHE DID TO THE CASTLE!"

The gears in Scrimgeuor's head suddenly turned. "Ah-ha! I knew it! She helped the Dark Lord to destroy Hogwarts." There are not enough galleons in the ministry to pay Inverse's fee, and they wouldn't have to. "Aurors! Take Professor Inverse into custody. There's a cell in Azkaban with your name on it."

"Hay! You can't get out of paying my reward that easily." Lina twitched; her fuse just about at its end. _Oh, God I hope he is not trying to cheat me out of my money_.

Scrimgeuor grinned when it appeared the aurors were following his orders, although cautiously, they moved in on Inverse nonetheless. "What reward?" Scrimgeuor taunted the sorceress. "I made no such promises." A lie but still better than bankrupting the ministry. "But you leveled Hogwarts to the ground. Only an accomplice of the Dark Lord would do something so evil you-you… ENEMY OF ALL WHO LIVE!"

Big mistake and McGonagall knew that. The headmistress quickly scurried away in fear of her life. _Potter can take care of himself_; she thought when she dived behind some rocks.

Lina twitched one last time, her fuse finally at its limit.

"DRAGON SLAVE!"

The END.

List of spells

Ra Tilt: Shaministic magic, the spiritual equivilent of a nuclear bomb. Most of the damage is done ti the spirit rather than matter in the material plan.

Fire Ball: Shaministic magic, a basic fire attack with variable yield at damage radius.

Freeze Arrow: Shaministic magic (Ice). A spear of ice that can both impale and freeze an opponent. Breaks up into smaller spears in mid-flight for greater coverage.

Dragon Slave: The most powerful Dark Magic spell in existence. Calls upon the power of the Demon-lord Shabringido to do nuke level damage to both spirit realm and the material realm.


End file.
